A Faux-Bois Bucket. Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Period - Photo Sotheby's
the straight, slightly everted sides resting on a low broad footring, naturalistically painted overall in different shades of reddish-brown enamel in imitation of a bucket made from straight wooden slats with a strong grain, held together around the centre and base by hoops of plaited bamboo painted in pale green, the recessed base later drilled with a central hole enabling the bucket to serve as a... [Lire la suite]

An Underglaze-Red Water Coupe, Pinguozun. Mark and Period of Kangxi - Photo Sotheby's
of globular form, the rounded sides rising from a recessed base to an incurved rim, decorated in bright underglaze red with sprays of stylized peony, lotus, chrysanthemum and hibiscus, each wreathed by feathery scrolls and picked out with deeper striation, all between a border of scrolling lotus around the neck and a band of lotus petals encircling the foot, and enclosed within lines of underglaze... [Lire la suite]

A Blue-Ground and Green-Enamel 'Dragon' Bowl, Mark and Period of Kangxi - Photo Sotheby's
the deep rounded sides rising steeply from a short straight foot to a flared rim, brightly painted in green enamel against an underglaze-blue ground, the interior with a central medallion enclosing a five-clawed dragon writhing fiercely among flames within a double-line border, the inner walls left white, the exterior similarly decorated with two five-clawed dragons striding among... [Lire la suite]

A Green-Enamel 'Dragon' Saucer Dish, Mark And Period Of Zhengde - Photo Sotheby's
with shallow rounded sides supported on a short slightly tapered foot, the interior decorated with a central medallion enclosing a five-clawed dragon writhing among stylized clouds, its head, scaly body and limbs finely incised, reserved on the biscuit and covered with a green enamel, their claws and spikes picked out in green enamel over the glaze, all within a green circle repeated... [Lire la suite]

A Copper-Red Olive-Shaped Vase, Ganlanping. Mark and Period of Kangxi - Photo Sotheby's
the bulging body rising to an almost cylindrical neck from a slightly splayed foot, resting on a broad straight-cut foot ring with a recessed base, attractively covered on the exterior with a rich glaze of deep copper-red colour thinning to white towards the rim and pooling in a thick darker layer around the foot, the interior, rim and base left white, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark... [Lire la suite]